"Hundreds of millions of pounds is available but less than 1% has so far been deployed", says Guy Stenhouse.

"The UK Government’s great success is the Furlough Scheme", he says, "What isn’t working well is the UK Government backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

"The CBILS is not working – it needs to – and fast if businesses are to have the cash not just to get through the lockdown but to fund their working capital as we move out the other side."

Read his Business Voices column in The Herald print edition and online tomorrow.

BUSINESS WEEK: Glasgow pub and bar trade is ‘ticking time bomb’ | Alva firm's part in mass roll-out of testing kits | Ian McConnell's column

Such has been the impact of Covid-19 that Goldman Sachs analysts have speculated the world may have already reached “peak carbon” a decade earlier than expected.

In Kristy Dorsey's Monday Interview, Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer of Heriot-Watt University talks about crashing carbon dioxide emissions, with estimates that they could decline by as much as five per cent in 2020, the biggest reduction seen since World War II, after coronavirus.

In Mark Williamson's SME Focus, we hear how Mocean Energy is developing ocean wave energy converters, which transform energy in ocean waves into electricity.

This could help power undersea robots inspecting and repairing subsea equipment and installations.

"We are already working on a project with oil and gas firm Chysaor and subsea specialists EC-OG and Modus to trial a subsea system using our Blue Star 001 prototype in Orkney," says Cameron McNatt.

OPINION: What 'new normal' means for global business and economics

New BP chief Bernard Looney could scarcely have imagined a tougher time to present his first set of financial results to investors, as global oil markets falter due to the coronavirus hit.

Analysts warn that the oil majors may be looking at one of their biggest quarter-on-quarter profitability hits in history.

It is a far cry from just three months ago when the Irishman was standing in front of an audience of hundreds unveiling his plan for a green new BP.

BP's first-quarter earnings release on Tuesday will likely be a different affair.

Mr Looney will be hosting the usual investor webcast from the comfort of his own home, and most of those listening in will likely be in their spare room, or perhaps the kitchen table.

READ MORE: Partially formed golf course on outskirts of Scottish town put up for sale

Mr Looney, and his Shell rival Ben van Beurden two days later, will present their results to investors as oil prices linger just above lows not seen since last century.

Already in late January investors had been nervously eyeing a depressed Brent oil price, which had dropped to around $55 per barrel from around $65 at the beginning of the year.

As coronavirus started escaping China in the run-up to the oil majors' last set of results, few were predicting the massive hit it would have on global oil markets.

Brent fell to below $20 a barrel on Tuesday.

The fallout has left analysts scratching their heads over what to expect from next week's results.

The oil majors are likely to be hedged against a massive fall in the oil price and the worst drop happened after the reporting period ended, however it is still likely to feed through in predictions for the future.

Analysts believe that Shell will present current cost of supplies (CCS) earnings of $2.25 billion (£1.8 billion), a reduction from $5.3 billion (£4.3 billion) in the first quarter of last year.

CCS earnings is the measure Mr van Beurden uses to allocate resources and assess performance within the company.

"Extraordinary events in the oil market mean that Shell's first-quarter profits will be even harder to predict than normal, even if crude's latest collapse, using West Texas Intermediate as a benchmark, took place three weeks after the quarter's end.

He added: "Remember that Shell's average selling price for oil in Q4 2019 was 56.60 dollars a barrel."

Consensus figures predict that BP's first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, its preferred measure, will be $710 million (£575 million), down from $2.3 billion (£1.9 billion) in the same period last year.

The price of Brent averaged $50 in the first three months of this year, versus $63 in the first quarter of 2019.

"We should see one of the biggest quarter-on-quarter falls in profitability among the oil majors as the oil price plunge started with the outbreak of the coronavirus in China rather than when it became widespread in Europe and the US," said analysts at the Share Centre.

They added that BP has held out against pressure to slash dividends and has focused on cutting costs and scaling back investment.

"It has also been tapping the markets for extra financing, but investors will question how long it can resist cutting the dividend as prices at the start of the second quarter have reached unimaginable lows from just a few months ago. There is likely to be a large asset write-down also," the analysts said.

Also on Tuesday, trading updates are due from Travis Perkins and Weir Group, along with the CBI Monthly Distributive Trades Survey.

On Wednesday there is trading updates from GSK, Barclays, Next, WPP, AstraZeneca, Standard Chartered and Persimmon.

The Treasury Select Committee's Economic impact of coronavirus will hear from witness Stephen Barclay MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's AGM will  be a webcast event and on Thursday Sainsbury's finals are due.

The Nationwide house price index and trading updates from Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Reckitt Benckiser, G4S and Howden Joinery are expected.

On Friday a trading update is due from Royal Bank of Scotland, as is the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI for April and CBI Growth Indicator.